Creating a documentary video series

Videography embodies many different mediums in terms of the types of films that you can make.  Here in London, it’s especially prevalent as there is so much diversity in the video work available.  One of my favourite mediums is documentary film.  There is something wonderful about the real and organic natural of the video content that can be captured.  We have worked on tons of documentary series around the UK and around the world.  This article details some of our approaches to creating fantastic documentary films.

Creating a documentary video series in a natural way

First and foremost, when it comes to documentary keeping natural is always at the back of my head when creating content.  Of course there’re ways to focus in on certain aspects of a story to highlight specific areas that can benefit the film.  However, very quickly, if something isn’t real, it shows.  That’s one of the most beautiful things about documentary video in my eyes.  It can showcase real emotion.  This is how we can connect with other people and ultimately, our audience.

As a result, I often like to film with long lenses.  This enables the people you’re filming to continue almost unaware of the camera.  The heat of having a lens or camera on you is real so we like to put our 50mm back in the bag and put on the long 300mm lens.

Keep the camera rolling

Content is king.  With this in mind, we like to keep our cameras rolling.  You never know when you might miss a moment.  Poof, like that it’s gone forever.  Invest in some large media cards and keep that camera rolling.

Planning is key

Like most good projects, planning plays a huge role.  From getting a solid plan together to making your talent feel comfortable with having you and your camera around, planning will help ugly.  We plan vigorously.  We know this ultimately helps to create a great end result.

Documentary examples

You can head over to my portfolio page to see some great documentary examples created by a London based videographer.  Below are a few frames from a recent series we created for one of our clients over the last few months.